Oh No, I Might Like Country Music
It’s official. It snuck up on me so quickly, so there was no time to mentally prepare myself. You might need to sit down for this because it’s a pretty big deal: I think I might like country music. *cue gasps*
It’s Nashville nights like Wednesday night that began the slow transformation in me from having a dramatic hatred for country music to being Luke Bryan‘s best friend. (This might be an exaggeration.) The summer before I came to Vanderbilt, my mom would always tell me that I couldn’t openly express my hatred for country music when I got to school in Nashville because I “would not make any friends.” While I did not find this to be exactly true, I AM a little bummed that I didn’t jump on the country bandwagon a little earlier. A lot of country music is sassy, which is right up my alley, and I will admit to having more than one new country playlist on Spotify.
On Wednesday, Vandy gave me the opportunity to attend the Grammy Nomination Concert at Bridgestone Arena with my friends for FREE. There is definitely an upside to reading through all of your emails from Vanderbilt because you never know when there will be a hidden link to tickets for the concert of the century, where Luke Bryan, Hunter Hayes, The Band Perry, Ne-Yo, Fun., and Maroon 5 all perform. Apparently the Grammy nominations are usually announced in a press conference in a room with just the media, but this year the Grammy Foundation decided to spice up the announcements by turning the event into a concert. Everyone knows that a good concert needs a floor section filled by beautiful and energetic young people, and that’s where the Vandy students came in. :) It was the perfect concert for a person with a short attention span like me because each performer only sang a few songs, and the guys in my group definitely didn’t mind that Taylor Swift hosted.
I’ve also found that it’s hard to defend my country music dislike at free outdoor Luke Bryan concerts in downtown Nashville. There was a “Block Party” in Nashville at the end of October, so my buddy Mary Kate and I jumped on a Metro Bus for free, by swiping our Commodore cards, and joined the crowd of young adults eagerly awaiting the sweet sounds of Luke Bryan. Being awkwardly pressed up against a trashcan for a few hours was definitely worth it because I finally realized what the Luke Bryan hype was all about. After watching Luke Bryan perform “Country Girl” for the first time, all I could say was, “That man can really shake his hips.”
A few days later, I was talking up the Luke Bryan concert with a friend and ended up with free tickets to the Rascal Flatts and Little Big Town concert with her. You’re probably thinking that I have been rather lucky this semester, and you would be rather correct. I am now enthralled with Little Big Town’s “Pontoon” and the blonde girl’s enormous fro.
The moral of this lengthy story is that country music is not all just sappy ballads about dead dogs and alcoholics. If I’ve learned anything from Nashville, it’s that live music rocks. From a former country music snob, I think you should give country music a try!